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When we think Metal Slug, our minds turn to classic arcade side-scroller action. What we don’t think of is the tower defense genre. However, that is precisely the catagory which SNK Playmore's new free-to-play title Metal Slug Defense falls into.
That's not to say that there isn't some crossover between the classic games and this new enterprise. Creating a 2D side-scrolling tower defense title has allowed the developer to lift art straight from previous Metal Slug games. Th…

The iOS port of PC and console tower defence game Castlestorm, has just smashed its way on to the App Store in the form of Castlestorm - Free to Siege.
This free-to-play translation of the original Castlestorm has been in beta since February on Android devices. Now, with the kinks in its business model hammered out, Zen Studios has brought it to iPhone and iPad.
The medieval styled tower defense title marries 2D tower defense combat with physics-based construction and destruction. As you build your tower, the integrity of your base is dependent both on the materials you use and your architectural skills. Place too much weight on the wrong support, and you could quickly find the…

Developer Wargaming.net has just soft-launched its free-to-play game World of Tank Blitz in selected territories.
The developer’s new iOS title is a translation of its incredibly popular PC MMO World of Tanks, which currently boasts over 80 million subscribers. World of Tank Blitz optimises the PC experience for touchscreens, while still offering frantic seven on seven team battles.
This mobile version of the game has many of the same features as the original. First off, you can choose between 90 different tank types. These will conform to four different tank classes, light, medium, heavy, and tank destroyers, making careful construction of your seven tank squad vital if yo…

If you enjoy games filled with guns, turf wars, and plenty of opportunities to fill unscrupulous baddies full of hot lead, you may like Happylatte's Days of Crime.
Days of Crime is a skill-based Player vs Player (PvP) combat-filled action title inspired by the 1979 movie The Warriors. In it, you’re pitted against hundreds of other gun-toting wannabe gangsters from around the globe and a range of NPC bosses.
Following a 5-year stint behind bars for an undisclosed crime, you return to your hometown with the sole aim of taking back the streets on which you were raised. You do this with a gun and a range of other deadly items.
Every time you take on a thug in Days of Crime, you’…

Activision’s Tony Hawk series defined skating games for most of the 2000s. Now, over a decade later, the company is bringing a new instalment of the series to the iPhone and iPad in the form of Tony Hawk's Shred Session, a free-to-play lane-based autorunner.
As a lane-based endless game, Tony Hawk's Shred Session looks pretty standard. Swiping left or right shifts your skater between lanes to collect coins and avoid obstacles.
Where Shred Session changes things up is its trick system. Ramps and rails in your path allow you to perform all manner of grinds and jumps to earn more cash, and generally look cool.
The game will feature two game modes: Shred Sessions and Survival. Shred Ses…

It seems SNK Playmore have stopped porting old Neo Geo games to iOS long enough to make a their very own Metal Slug game.
Metal Slug Defense leverages the classic 2D sprites and backdrops from the shooter franchise to create its universe. You'll be able to unlock 60 units over the course of the game, and face-off against opponents in over 100 different locations.
Tapping on character icons cause those troop to spawn from your base and advance towards the enemy stronghold in a manner that will be familiar to anyone who has played a tower defence game.
Free-to-play elements allows you use in-app purchases to power-up your base and troops, so you can expect to be investing cash a…

If you have ever played a shmup then AngerForce - Strikers will hold few surprises. It's a familiar story: a series of vertically-scrolling levels which have you tracing your craft's path a halestorm of bullets, trying to destroy any enemies in your way.
AngerForce you offers three characters to choose from, each with their own special attacks. Which you select will be dependent on your play style, with characters like the robot offering powerful laser attacks that do huge d…

Rock Band developer Harmonix has announced its new free-to-play runner, Record Run, is expected to hit iOS in May.
Revealed at PAX East, Record Run appears at first glance to be a pretty standard runner. Where the game differs from other runners on the App Store is that you can import your own music to generate levels, with the song's beat dictating the pace.
Once you've completed a level you can share your highscore with the world, and give other players the chance to purchase and download the song to challenge your leaderboard dominance.
In his PAX East panel, Harmonix’s studio head Alex Rigopulos said that Record Run is just one of several “very different" mobile gam…

Our feelings towards Family Guy as a show oscillate wildly. While at times its offensive jokes can seem cruel and almost bigoted, when they hit their stride the writers and performers can deliver big laughs. What Family Guy: The Quest for Stuff manages to do is strip away any uncertainty, handing you a package containing the show's worst aspects in a box that looks remarkable similar to the one which houses The Simpsons: Tapped Out.
The game is predicated on rebuilding the…

Rovio's latest addition publishing adventure is the fiendishly tricky word game Word Monsters. Developed by Raketspel, this free-to-play puzzler blends wordsearch gameplay with gravity manipulation, creating a game that demands fast thinking and forward planning.
You have to find all of the words in each of Word Monster's tile puzzles. Each round has a theme - one may have you searching for animals, while another will be spent locating girls' names. This does make things tricky at fir…

Trials Frontier wastes no time getting you into the action. There’s no title screen as you load the app - instead, the game begins with an onscreen prompt showing you how to start your engine. Before we'd even seen the title card, we were scudding along the 2.5D path towards an explosive finale.
The game's first three tracks lay out all the controls. Your right thumb controls acceleration, while your left thumb manipulates your rider’s center of gravity, letting you j…

We don't mind admitting that we were excited as we started playing the free-to-play Star Wars: Team Assault. It wasn't the Star Wars fanfare that set our nostalgia glands tingling. That lost its potency long ago. Nope, it was the scenario that got our sabres flaring.
Starting just after the original film, you take control of Han Solo as he attempts to infiltrate the Empire. With Han, Chewie, and R2-D2 in your squad, you'd be forgive for thinking the story might evolve into something s…

Boom Beach is developer Supercell's follow-up to the phenomenally successful Clash of Clans. This lineage is obvious the moment you boot up the app, with the cartoony visuals, resource management, and tower defense-style battles echoing its fantasy-inspired ancestor.
However, rather than dump you in a Nordic netherword, Boom Beach has you establishing a base on a small tropical island. Your army has arrived to battle the evil Blackguard forces that have captured the surrounding…

Popcap’s free-to-play tower-defense game, Plants vs. Zombies 2, has just received new set of levels, courtesy of the Far Future update.
The update sends you and your army of botanical bombardiers into the future to battle an oncoming horde of sci-fi shamblers.
As the game's 1970’s-style trailer shows, the update include two new plants - the wonderfully named Infi-Nut and Laser Bean - with which to battle your undead foes. The zombies also have their ranks bolstered with the addition of the new Jetpack Zombie.
The Far Future update also introduces Power Tiles. These are scattered across the battlefield, and increase your plants' powers. Similarly, the effects of Plant Food ha…

Popular Facebook RPG strategy game Game of Thrones Ascent has just been released for iPad.
Based on the Game of Thrones TV series and George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire books, the free-to-play game is set just after the death of the King’s Hand. It's up to you to harness the ensuing fallout to raise your character's status through the fiction's feudal hierarchy.
You build your own character from scratch, deciding their upbringing, allegiances, and even what gods they will worship. Once established, you can send your noble on "thousands" or missions and quests, all in the service of expanding your territory and increasing your influence in Westeros.
The gam…